Under faraid, yes — each parent normally takes one sixth where the deceased left children. Under Canadian intestacy, generally no: parents receive nothing while a spouse or children survive.
The Canadian position
This is the sharpest single divergence between the two systems. Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act distributes to the spouse and issue first; parents inherit only where neither survives.
The Islamic position
The mother and father each take one sixth where the deceased left children. Where there are no children, the mother takes one third and the father takes the residue as a residuary heir.
Where the heirs are a spouse and both parents, the Umariyyatan rule gives the mother one third of what remains after the spouse's share rather than one third of the whole estate.
Each parent takes one sixth where the deceased left children. With no child, the mother takes one third and the father takes the rest. Two or more brothers or sisters cut the mother back to one sixth. The four schools are not recorded as differing on any of this.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-08-19. Full positions, evidence and sources — What a father and a mother inherit.
Related madhhab issue: The two ‘Umariyyatan cases.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
A young father who dies intestate in Ontario leaves his own parents nothing. Only a will changes that.
This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.
Citations & sources
Every factual claim on this page traces to a source below. Details change — check the original source before relying on any figure, fee or legal position. Anything under “further reading” is related material, not a source for what is stated here.
- Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — shares of children and parents — Quran.com
- Surah an-Nisa 4:12 — shares of spouses and uterine siblings — Quran.com
- Surah an-Nisa 4:176 — the kalalah verse — Quran.com
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 85: Laws of Inheritance (Faraid) — Sunnah.com
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Inheritance — Sunnah.com
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Administering estates — Government of Ontario
- Intestacy spouse one child ontario — Treadstone Law
- Ontario intestacy no spouse no children — Treadstone Law
- Does spouse inherit if no will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Can children of deceased child inherit per stirpes ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law